1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to metallic covers and methods for making the same, and more particularly to a metallic cover used for electronic devices and method for making the same.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Generally, a metallic cover has a more appealing appearance and a better surface feeling than a plastic cover, thus metallic covers are popularly used for electronic devices such as flat-panel display devices.
Referring to FIG. 7, a typical metallic cover 10 is shown. The metallic cover 10 includes a rectangular bottom base 11, a first side wall 12, a second side wall 13, a third side wall 14, and a fourth side wall 15. The side walls 12, 13, 14, 15 perpendicularly extend from a periphery of the rectangular bottom base 11. Each of the side walls 12, 13, 14, 15 and the bottom base 11 are connected by an edge structure 16. The edge structure 16 is generally designed to be a curve-cornered edge so that the metallic cover 10 is easy to be made by metal drawing method. Each of the side walls 12, 13, 14, 15 connects to its adjacent side walls, thus the side walls 12, 13, 14, 15 cooperatively define a cavity (not labeled) for receiving electronic components (not shown).
In order to obtain a different appearance, an edge structure of another typical cover for connecting the side walls and the bottom base may be a sharp-cornered edge instead of the curve-cornered edge. Generally, the sharp-cornered edge is impossible to be made by metal drawing method. A typical method for making a metallic cover with a sharp-cornered edge is made by the two following steps: drawing a metal sheet into a preformed cover; pressing the preformed cover into a metallic cover with a sharp-cornered edge by a forming die. However, the above described method is prone to cause cracks in the edge structure of the metallic cover, thus decreasing quality of the metallic covers.
In addition, the metallic covers made by the above described method need to be processed by an anodizing process. After the anodizing process, color of surface of the edge structure of the metallic cover is quite different from that of other parts of the metallic cover, thereby decreasing the quality of the appearance of the cover.
Therefore, a new metallic cover is desired in order to overcome the above described shortcomings. A method for making the metallic cover is also needed.